Background:Besides pruritus and skin lesions, cats with feline atopic skin syndrome (FASS) may have seborrhoea.
Hypothesis/Objectives:The aim of this pilot study was to investigate whether an adsorbent mousse containing tapioca starch, adelmidrol and a nonpharmacological antimicrobial complex could decrease FASS‐associated seborrhoea in cats.
Animals:Seven client‐owned cats with FASS were included based on the presence of seborrhoea and pruritus (>4 cm on the validated feline pruritus Visual Analog Scale [VAScat]), regardless of the concomitant administration of antiallergic drugs, provided that they were used for ≥1 month before study entry and maintained unchanged.
Materials and Methods:Cats were evaluated weekly by owners and every other week by veterinary surgeons for 2 (optionally 4) weeks using a four‐item skin seborrhoeic index (SSI). The VAScat and the scoring feline allergic dermatitis (SCORFAD) index also were used to assess pruritus and skin lesion severity, respectively. The Wilcoxon signed‐rank test was used for pre‐ versus post‐treatment comparisons.
Results:At the end of Week 2, the mean score value for SSI was significantly decreased (p = 0.016). At the same time point, the mean severity of pruritus and the mean SCORFAD index value had also decreased (p = 0.016). Moreover, 86% of the investigators were ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ with the tested mousse. Four cats continued the study up to Week 4 and showed a further, albeit nonsignificant, decrease in all evaluated scores.
Conclusions and Clinical Relevance:These preliminary findings have promising implications for clinical practice in cats with FASS‐associated seborrhoea and are worth further investigation.